The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemum x morifolium Ramat., commercially known as a garden mum, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar denomination ‘Zanmupop Orange’. ‘Zanmupop Orange’ is a product of a breeding and selection program which had the objective of finding flower color mutants from existing parent plants. The new plant comprises a whole plant mutant of the parent chrysanthemum named ‘Zanmupop’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,942). A comparison between the parent and the flower color mutant is provided in the section description of the invention.
Plants from the new cultivar ‘Zanmupop Orange’ differ from plants of the parent in the color of the ray florets. The ray florets of the parent are pink, while those of the new plant are bronze.
In order to obtain color mutants, unrooted cuttings of the parent plant were irradiated in April 2013 at Ziekenhuis, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with gamma radiation at a dose of 15Gy. These treated cuttings were then planted in a controlled environment (greenhouse) in Rijsenhout, the Netherlands. In this population of planted cuttings, the new cultivar was discovered as a flower color mutant in October 2013 by Sjoukje Heimovaara. The first act of asexual reproduction of ‘Zanmupop Orange’ was accomplished when after planting of ‘Zanmupop Orange’ as a motherplant in December 2013, vegetative cuttings from ‘Zanmupop Orange’ were taken and propagated further in Rijsenhout, the Netherlands. In summer, about 6-8 days are needed to initiate roots in cuttings of the new cultivar, after another 5 days rooted plants are formed. The new cultivar has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations.